A Co Cavan man who was found guilty of the murder of a 33-year-old father-of-one has been sentenced to life in prison.
Trevor McCabe (35), of Mountpleasant, Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, had pleaded not guilty in the Central Criminal Court to murdering Darren McGrath (33), in Belturbet, Co Cavan, on May 20th, 2008.
Last week, he was found guilty of the murder of Mr McGrath by a jury of eight women and four men, who reached their majority verdict of 10-2 after almost eight hours of deliberation.
It was the prosecution's case that McCabe shot Mr McGrath as he slept in bed beside his fiancé.
They said McCabe entered the house with a shotgun at approximately 5am, shot Mr McGrath twice in the head, and then drove away.
During the10 day trial, the court heard McCabe had been tried for the murder of Darren McGrath in July 2009, but the jury had failed to reach a verdict and a retrial was ordered.
Supt Gerrard Curley said McCabe had seven previous convictions in this jurisdiction, dating from 1992, in relation to drug and theft related offences.
In November 2000, he was convicted in England of wounding with intent and possession of an imitation firearm as well as two counts of burglary and theft and was sentenced to four years imprisonment.
In a victim impact statement read out to the court, Nicole Lennon, the fiancé of the deceased and mother of his child, described McCabe as "cold callous man" for what he had done.
"Words cannot describe the pain I’m going through since this man took my fiancé away from me," she said. "He has left me terrified, constantly looking over my shoulder. I can’t even live on my own and get on with my life and my daughter's."
Ms Lennon said she was relived justice had been done and relived to know McCabe "not ruin anymore lives and families".
Margaret McGrath, mother of the deceased, told the court McCabe had robbed her family of a son, a brother and a father.
In handing down sentence, Mr Justice Barry White said the jury had "rightly convicted" McCabe of the murder. "The law requires I sentence you to life imprisonment and that is the sentence I impose," he said.
McCabe has been in custody in relation to the murder since May 31st, 2008, and his sentence was backdated to that date.